Interview with a Wiki Ninja - Thuan Soldier, SharePoint MVP
And we have another Interview with a Wiki Ninja! Please welcome SharePoint MVP...
Thuan has written 14 high-quality TechNet Wiki articles, and his article Backup and Restore SharePoint 2010 IIS Web Server Configuration through PowerShell on the TechNet Wiki has achieved its 15 minutes of fame. Let's get to the interview!
Who are you? Where are you? And what do you do? What are your specialty technologies?
My name is Thuan. My pseudonym is Thuan Soldier but I’ve never actually worked for any military organizations. I’m working for Availys LLC, which is a global company exceling at developing business solutions built on top of the Microsoft SharePoint platform. Being part of the great team in Availys, I’m responsible for driving the expert level of Microsoft technology knowledge, and have participated in planning, designing and implementing business solutions utilizing a variety of Microsoft technologies for mid-tier and large organizations. My main specialty is Microsoft SharePoint products and technologies that I’ve worked with since 2008. I’ve also made my hands dirty on other Microsoft technologies such as Forefront Identity Manager, Active Directory Certificate Services, Active Directory Federation Services, SQL Server or so on. On another hand, I like to use and combine several methodologies such as Microsoft Operation Framework, Microsoft Solution Framework, Microsoft Infrastructure Design Planning.
I’m a Microsoft SharePoint MVP and getting it three years (2011, 2012, 2013). I often spend my spare time reading awesome books, blogging or enjoying photography. I’m regularly on Twitter (@nnthuan) and my personal blog at https://thuansoldier.net.
What are your big projects right now?
I’m currently involving in several interesting SharePoint projects. One of them is the solution design for SharePoint 2013 Intranet for a prospective client including some requirements of data extraction and reporting with Microsoft Excel.
Another project is the Windows Server 2012 Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) deployment. The customer’s environment is using only self-signed certificate for their services (SharePoint, Active Directory Federation Services…etc.) What I have to do is plan for Windows Server 2012 AD CS deployment and replace all self-signed certificates by domain CA-issued certificate. I will share my experiences in this project after it gets done.
In terms of blogging, I’m in the process of picking out a few topics about SharePoint integration to write.
In terms of community, I’m starting with my team looking to organize the 7th SharePoint Saturday Vietnam. The 7th event would ideally only have topics relating SharePoint 2013 Apps model spreading from infrastructure architecture to development perspective.
What is it about TechNet Wiki that interests you?
TechNet Wiki is a great place for the community to share and discuss about various Microsoft products and technologies. Here you can write your thoughts on something then other people help you make your articles perfect to be published to readers. TechNet Wiki is growing very fast and developed perfectly by not only great team but also the involvement of lots of people. I believe it will be one of the most outstanding Microsoft wiki portals where people love to come to.
How do you write a good article that attracts lots of readers?
This is one of the very common questions I get asked. In my opinion, a good article covers not only step-by-step guidance but also clear explanation of why of what is implemented. Depending on your background skills, whether development, infrastructure or business landscape, it would be very good to write day-to-day works, real-world experience of troubleshooting something or share your insight thoughts at points people are struggling. A series is also worth writing.
For those like me who are not living in an English-speaking environment, I would like to suggest you to practice your writing skills and read books like Smart Thinking, Writing the Research Paper, and Improve your Written English. You don’t necessarily have to use fancy words in your article. The ultimate goal is to make your readers easier to understand what you write about.
Finally, write this idiom on sticky notes and put them everywhere so that you always see it: “Practice makes perfect”.
What are your favorite Wiki articles you have contributed?
I’ve noticed that there are massive numbers of people reading this article (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/11234.sharepoint-2010-how-to-enable-uploading-multiple-documents-functionality.aspx) as it saves their time a lot.
Another one is an article about working with SharePoint libraries on Document Connection for Mac (https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/10527.sharepoint-working-with-documents-stored-in-a-sharepoint-site-using-document-connection.aspx). I’m considering writing a full series of using Document Connection for Mac on SharePoint Server 2013. Stay tuned!
Who has impressed you in the Wiki community, and why?
That’s Ed Price. To be honest, I don’t know any other people who have devoted so much time to TechNet Wiki like Ed Price. Ed is well deserved to be the most commendable guy in TechNet Wiki.
What does success look like for TechNet Wiki?
A lot more people come to TechNet Wiki to collaborate on writing and sharing high-level articles about Microsoft technologies.
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Thank you Thuan for your contributions to TechNet Wiki (and your kind words)!
Please join me in celebrating Thuan's Wiki accomplishments!
- Ninja Ed
Comments
Anonymous
August 05, 2013
I have the first comment question for Thuan! What is "Smart Thinking, Writing Research Papers, and Improve your Written English". Is that a book? Three books? Thanks!Anonymous
August 05, 2013
Hi Ed, Many thanks for the interview. Yeah, they are helpful books.
- Smart Thinking:www.amazon.com/.../0399537759
- Writing the research paper: www.amazon.com/.../1413011713
- Improve your written english: www.amazon.com/.../1845283317 There are many others interesting books you should read as well. Regards, -T.s
Anonymous
August 05, 2013
Great! I updated my text a little. Next question... When you wrote: "Finally, mark a sticky note in where you very often see: “Practice makes perfect”." ...What is that from? Is that a type of section in one of the books? Thanks!Anonymous
August 05, 2013
Yeah, write the idiom "Practice makes perfect" on your sticky note then put it everywhere you can see when you wake up :).Anonymous
August 06, 2013
The comment has been removedAnonymous
August 06, 2013
Is that okay? Thanks!Anonymous
August 06, 2013
For sure Ed. The idiom inspires me so much :-). The more you practice, the better you will become. If you want to become great, then you should practice as much as possible. Regards, -T.sAnonymous
August 06, 2013
Hello Thuan, As usually Excellent writing skills! Hope to meet you a day! GokanAnonymous
August 06, 2013
Congratulations Thuan. It is very important to have an expert like you in the community.Anonymous
August 06, 2013
Congrats Thuan. Some articles in your blog help me many times. I'd say it helps me earn money from my clients. Please do keep contributing your experiences. By the way, I've heard of that you are just 23 years old?Anonymous
August 06, 2013
Thanks guys :-). @Zkoviz: yes I'm.Anonymous
August 06, 2013
Thuan, okay, I made the change about the sticky note. Thanks!Anonymous
August 06, 2013
Thuan, you're 23??? That means that you've been an MVP for the last three years since you were 20??? Wow!Anonymous
August 06, 2013
@Ed: I got the first SharePoint MVP Award when I was 21 years old (2011).Anonymous
September 28, 2013
Impressive!!!!!Anonymous
August 14, 2014
Impressive, Thuan. Keep going.